Laundry Day

Laundry Day
Originally uploaded by kippster.

Well, most days are laundry days around here. Most people don't have electricity, so laundry along with a lot of other things involves manual labor.

For a country just slightly larger than Tennessee [1] and a population of somewhere around 3 million (about half as many as Tennessee [2]), they sure do know how to create big problems! Without power (excepting for a small area around the Presidential complex which is served by a grid), the only power is via generators (and boy does the smell of burning diesel add to the joy of the sound of those generators). Of course, all fuel has to be imported, so fuel here is about $3/gallon in the city, going up to around $5/gallon in the bush.

I heard some stats regarding the cost of kvh here, but I'd probably get them wrong if I put them here...suffice it to say, the cost per kvh is a lot higher here than in most places. Very few buisiness are 24 hour, even most of the radio stations are run on a 2-shift block so as not to burn diesel during the non-peak listening times.

Without consistent electricity, the act of preserving foods is dealt a blow. This limits the available options for sustenance. Speaking of sustenance, rice is a huge thing here, and rice is expensive ($32/bag, which apparently is normally around $19). There, at least in the past, and perhaps presently, some kind of monopoly on rice production/importation. This apparently doesn't help reduce the price that people end up paying -- go figure!

The roads are torn up, from the war and general lack of repair capability. I'm sure the UN tanks rolling around on the roads don't help (I actually got to witness one of these patrols the other night as we were heading home from Ellen's place -- a bit of surprise to see a couple of tanks roll by -- I was so enthralled with watching, I forgot to grab my camera!). the repairs that they do, don't last long due to the heavy rains, plus I think the equipment they use to patch the roads are not the most up-to-date. (see pic.).

The state of the roads causes what almost appears to be a video game style of driving, weaving around both sides of the road to avoid dropping a wheel in the potholes. Meanwhile the pedestrians are in their own game, playing a version of frogger trying to get across the road...

And that's just the beginning...

[1] https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/print/li.html
[2] http://www.npg.org/states/tn.htm